Morse Asset Management Inc Sells 1,697 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Morse Asset Management Inc cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,859 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,697 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.3% of Morse Asset Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,528,950,000 after buying an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $3,035,987,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $612.54.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $506.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $509.18 and a 200-day moving average of $448.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.15, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.